A Home for Artists
Who Want to Grow

Both are invite-only and have the same pricing. The key difference is branding and access: Cultivate artists get official Paper Garden Records branding, roster placement, our 'New Artist Alert' campaign to 39k+ subscribers, and exclusive add-ons like Digs campaigns, events, and fan investor opportunities. Roots artists release under their own name or our white label 'PGRoots'.

We select Cultivate artists based on fit, momentum, and alignment with what we are building. If you are on Roots and hitting milestones (like 10k+ Spotify listeners or strong Greenhouse community support), you may be recognized with 'Bloom' status and considered for Cultivate.

Nope! Though we're happy to provide one if you like as well - but we're here to keep things simple! :)

When first signing up, you'll have a focused 'body of work', defined as an EP, LP, or up to 5 singles. This first body of work is what's included in the initial 500 credit cost. If you'd like us to work with your back catalog / previous releases as well, we're very happy to work with you on that at a discounted rate of 150 credits per additional 'body of work'.

Definitely! You can release up to 5 singles OR 3 singles and an album as part of this service.

We generally recommend the full ecosystem - but in instances where you may already be happy with (or in some cases, contractually stuck with) your current setup and partners, we can carve out certain elements of the Ecosystem and re-allocate some of those credits. Just let us know if this is you!

You can remove yourself from working with us, in part or in full, at any time. This is rare in the industry. Most sync companies require 2-3 year minimum commitments, and distribution deals often lock you in. We do not. If it is not working, we will help you transition out smoothly. No penalties, no catch.

No. Credits never expire and can be used across any combination of services, for new releases or back catalog gems.

Of course! Short story is you can add them at whatever the per credit rate is of your first purchase - or can always move up a tier if purchasing a larger package later. Below are a couple examples: Example A 1st Purchase: 500 Credits @ £900 (£1.80/credit) Top-Up Purchase of 200 credits would be £360 Example B 1st Purchase: 500 Credits @ £900 (£1.80/credit) Top-Up Purchase of 1000 credits would be £1500 (moving you to tier 2 @ £1.50/credit) Example C 1st Purchase: 2000 Credits @ £2000 (£1.00/credit) Top-Up Purchase of 200 credits would be £200 (since you started at the lowest cost per credit)

Yes. You retain 100% ownership of your masters and publishing, and keep 100% of streaming royalties. We only share revenue (50/50) on sync placements and brand partnerships that we secure for you.

Streaming Royalties - while you retain 100% of net streaming royalties, our distribution partner still takes a cut of 20%. So if we get paid £1000, you get paid £1000. Sync & Brand Partnership Revenue Direct - if this is a placement we secure directly ourselves, then you get 50% of net royalties. So if we get paid £1000, you get paid £500 of that - assuming zero hard costs associated, with costs subject to your approval. w/ our sync partners Maximal Sync & Broadest Spectrum, they take a cut of 40%. So if there's a sync for £1000, Maximal & Broadest will take £400, then the remaining £600 is split 50/50 between yourself and Paper Garden. You get paid £300 of the original £1000 in this case. Digs campaigns - these are typically brand-paid campaigns, where 20% of the net revenue goes to you as the artist, and 10% of net revenue going to the charity you select.

If you've signed up with the Core Ecosystem to use Paper Garden for distribution and/or sync, you'll have your own unique login to both IDOL and our royalty management partner, where you can see the full detail of all revenue streams we're managing and collecting for you. We generate statements on a quarterly basis, and pay out all artists who are owed at least £100. If you've earned less than £100, you may still request a payout for the full amount at any time. We pride ourselves in transparency, so reporting is provided on an as-requested basis for any services you've signed up for. If you'd like additional reporting on any particular service you've selected, just let us know and we'll compile & send reports on an as-requested basis.

Yes - we work with you to create a compelling blurb for IDOL to do their best pitching to the DSPs (e.g. Spotify, Apple Music, etc.) - and we also do 3rd party playlisting via Groover for Cultivate artists when that's a service selected. IDOL has a dedicated DSP Editorial & Partnerships team who handle editorial pitching for their labels, and that includes a dedicated back catalog manager who regularly pitches catalog tracks for evergreen programming opportunities. Their analytics platform that you'll have access to called 'Labelcamp' is extremely comprehensive. They also have an in-house Audience Development team who can advise on digital marketing, social media campaigns, etc. upon request. Beyond our own pitching via Groover, your music is distributed through IDOL, who employ dedicated editorial managers with direct relationships at every major DSP. IDOL actively pitches 30 to 150 releases per week to curators. Self-service platforms like DistroKid or TuneCore deliver over 200x that volume every week, but actual editorial pitching is only a small fraction of what those services handle. Because IDOL is selective and curated, curators trust what comes through, which means a significantly higher likelihood of editorial placement for your music.

Why exclusive matters: In sync licensing, the difference between exclusive and non-exclusive representation is night and day. Non-exclusive libraries are passive: your music sits in a massive catalog alongside thousands of others, waiting to be discovered. Supervisors don't know or trust the source, fees are lower because the music is available everywhere, and 'retitling' creates messy royalty conflicts. Exclusive representation flips all of that: your music is proactively pitched by agents with direct relationships, fees are higher because the music can't be found elsewhere, and there are no conflicts over rights or royalties. We work with our sync partners (Maximal Music Sync & Broadest Spectrum) on an exclusive basis, which is far more meaningful than non-exclusive companies where you are one of many. Mallory Zumbach, founder of Maximal Music Sync, and Amy Roberts, founder of Broadest Spectrum, have been working together to service artists and song catalogs for synch since Amy joined Mallory's team at Round Hill Music in 2015, where they collectively landed hundreds of syncs, highlights of which included uses in Lucifer, Ridiculousness, Sharknado 5, Younger, Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce, Grey's Anatomy, and over 250 song placements in Showtime's Shameless; uses for catalog deep cuts on AMC's Halt & Catch Fire and in the indie film The Mend; and ads for IKEA, JP Morgan Chase, Panadol, and Hershey's, plus multiple Victoria's Secret spots. After leaving Round Hill, they each opened their own synch rep companies (Maximal and Broadest Spectrum), and have continued to partner together to procure licensing opportunities for their clients in film, TV, advertising, promos, trailers, video games, and more. In the last two years alone, they've landed a combined 40+ synchs, including uses in TV shows like American Horror Story, Catfish, Law & Order Organized Crime, Seal Team, NCIS, Found, and The Irrational; TV movies including Hearts Around the Table: Jenna, Hearts Around the Table: Shari, and Scouting for Christmas; feature films such as Firelight, Apophenia, Lucha: A Wrestling Tale, and 24 Hours to D-Day; and ads for Don Julio, Transitions Optical, and more. With 20+ years of experience apiece, Amy and Mallory use their combined music industry know-how and long-standing music supervisor relationships to help their artists and catalogs find true success in the competitive and complex world of music synch. The benefit of being an artist with Paper Garden, beyond the face value of the aforementioned credibility and sync history of this powerhouse team, is you have no obligation with the sync partner directly. The formal agreement is between Paper Garden (for our entire catalog), Maximal & Broadest directly. We take on all the contractual stuff like being 'stuck' in a contract so you don't have to. Sync placements generally take time to secure, so we ask our artists to be patient - BUT if you have another offer on the table that you feel is better suited, or want to carve out specific territories or just want to exit for any other reasons, you can do so freely (just give us a bit of notice). Additionally, while this is an 'exclusive' contract, we've negotiated with our partners to allow Paper Garden and our artists directly to still pitch directly when opportunities arise, so long as they're not through another sync licensing company or 3rd party arrangement.

We handle the heavy lifting so you can focus on your music. The process: (1) We craft the pitch together based on your parameters, (2) We identify the right targets and markets together, (3) We build the contact list, (4) We tag-team the outreach. EXAMPLE: We send the first email with you on CC, you engage on social, we follow up (assuming no response yet), then you handle negotiations once conversations start. This applies to venue booking, brand partnerships, and philanthropic collaborations.

Yep! We treat each festival application the same way we do direct outreach.

On rare occasions, we can act as a full booking agency for you (routing, negotiations, etc.) - but this is set up on a monthly retainer basis - and usually starts at 1500 credits per month (depending on scope & territories/regions).

Paper Garden Digs offers unique music collaborations between artists, brands, and charities. Each chapter includes a new song and original video with the artist discussing the collaboration, and a creative voice from the brand. This multi-channel digital experience aims to provide a vital connection between the arts, brands, and social causes.

The Greenhouse is our members club - a community of Paper Garden artists, fans, and supporters. As an artist, you get access to partner discounts, community connections, and the fan investor revenue share program (available to Cultivate artists; Roots artists may be invited to participate).

The Artist Collective Board is made up of our own Paper Garden artists at the 'Legacy' level - artists we've worked closely with for quite a while and whom we've evolved and grown with together! They help vote on which artists progress to Cultivate and Legacy tiers, ensuring our community has a voice in who joins the family.